According to family legend, Ethel Mary Sach eloped with "Henry Truelove" to Australia (edit).
It is unclear whether Henry Truelove is a real person's name or a pseudonym for any lover one might run off with.
Her ageing niece would love to know the truth, and to learn what happened to her. I have volunteered to help but I am stuck now, perhaps enthusiasts might assist?
Ethel Mary Sach was born 1873, Reference: Lexden, 4a 350, Q2 1873
On the census in 1881 she is with her parents and siblings in Wormingford aged 8
In 1891 she is a boarder aged 18 (born Wormingford) with the Askew family in Colchester
In 1901 she is a servant in the home of Lady Clayton, in Great Cumberland Place, Marylebone aged 28 (born Wormingford)
She then disappears.
I had a look at the 1911 census for Lady Clayton but she is not with them any more.
I have checked the shipping records and found three.
None of them are her. The ages are wrong and they are all with wider families.
One describes Ethel (or Ettie?) and her husband Mr Sach as “foreigner”
One is a 13 year old girl with family
One is a housewife born in 1928
I have searched for anyone born 1873 in Wormingford, of any name at all, first or last, anywhere on the 1911 census. I found some records but none are her, even with a misspelt name.
I can’t find a marriage, or a death, or a shipping record.
This leaves me to think that she must have changed her surname and possibly played down the Wormingford connection.
I am not sure where else to look. There are at least a dozen records in people’s private family trees but most of them incorrectly think she married David Garrod (see note below), or else don’t know any more about her than we already do.
I have also searched for Henry Truelove travelling with someone else, just in case it was a real name. There are a few travelling alone but none that match at all.
I have had help before from some of the greatest genealogists in the world, on this site, so I hope you can give me some pointers again. Thank you
NB. Despite a number of researchers trying to suggest otherwise, Ethel was not married to David Percy Garrod
Our Ethel was still in service in 1901 as a single woman
His wife Ethel was 23 in 1901, living with him, and they had been married in 1899 and was living at Woodfield Cottages), Broad Street Green, Heybridge, Maldon